


Keeping Bobby John

by MusicalFangirl00193



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Kid Fic, M/M, Please ignore messed up baby milestones, domestic life, my excuse is shifters mature faster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 05:10:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10181393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MusicalFangirl00193/pseuds/MusicalFangirl00193
Summary: Dean didn’t want to take Bobby John to Samuel, and in this universe, he didn’t let Sam convince him to and the two raise Bobby John themselves.





	1. Chapter 1

“We should take him to Samuel.”

I couldn’t help but give Sam an incredulous look. “You’re kidding, right?”

“It’s the safest place for him Dean,” Sam argued, still without raising his voice.

“With a bunch of hunters?” I asked, rocking Bobby John, the movement more for me than for him.

“In case you’ve forgotten, we’re hunters too Dean.”

“I’m not,” I said softly, “Not for the past year.”

“Then what have you been?” Sam asked condescendingly.

“A dad,” I said, looking up at Sam. “You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it Sammy, in all your time at Stanford.”

“Dean,” Sam sounded sad, slightly defeated.

“Come on Sammy,” I pleaded, “Just a few days, and if it doesn’t work out, we’ll go to Samuel. Deal?”

“Deal,” Sam said, resigned. “One week, trial period.”

I grinned. “Trust me Sammy, fatherhood is like walking to me.” 

Sammy raised an eyebrow that seemed to ask ‘oh really?’

* * *

“I swear,” Sam muttered as I got up with Bobby John, again. “That kid is more trouble than it’s worth Dean.”

“Don’t listen to him Bobby John,” I whispered, rubbing the baby’s stomach, he was pretty colicky, “Sam’s just grumpy because he isn’t getting any.”

“Don’t tell the baby that Dean!” Sam protested.

“It’s not like he understands, right buddy?”

Bobby John didn’t answer, of course, but he was asleep now, which was a relief for the both of us.

“Why is it,” I asked, collapsing face first on my bed, “That he never goes to sleep until you put your two cents in?”

"I don't know," Sam responded, "Just go to sleep Dean."

“Yes dear,” I responded, falling asleep before Sam could retort.

* * *

“I think I can see the appeal here,” Sam said softly, rocking Bobby John back to sleep.

“I told you,” I said, smiling softly. “Put him down and get some sleep.”

Sam slowly carried the little boy to the, motel provided, crib. “If we’re going to do this,” he hovered near the crib. “We need to get out.”

“I know,” I said softly. “We can try, Lisa can help us find a house and stuff.”

I could see Sam tense, even from behind. “You want to go to your ex?” his voice was strained. “To raise Bobby John?”

“I’ve been trying to tell you,” I said, going to stand next to Sam. “Yeah, we were a thing at first, but not anymore, not for a while.”

The lines in Sam’s back and shoulders loosened. “Really?” he asked, hoarsely.

“She was just a replacement. Because you were gone.”

Sam gave a humorless laugh. “How clichéd are we? A baby bringing us together.”

“Does it really matter how it happens?” I asked. “It happened, now come to bed.”

* * *

“What do you mean ‘he has no soul’?” I asked, staring incredulously at Cas.

“I mean the majority of Sam’s soul is no longer in his body,” Cas said. “I had thought that would be obvious.”

“What he’s asking is,” Sam interrupted, putting himself between me and Cas. “Where is the rest of my soul?”

“Probably back in the Pit,” Cas said, squinting at Sam’s chest.

“Can we get it back?” I asked just as Bobby John started crying.

Cas startled, staring at the crib, then the baby once I had taken him out of it.

“What’s the matter Cas?” I asked, checking Bobby John’s diaper. “You look like you’ve never seen a baby before.”

“That child is not human,” Cas said warily. “What are you doing with an inhuman child?”

“We’re raising him, what does it look like Cas?” I said, “He won’t be a monster, we’re gonna raise him right.”

“Which means we’re quitting hunting,” Sam said, handing me a diaper and the baby wipes. “Lisa is helping us find a house and Dean’s already got a job here he can go back to.”

“I’ll look into the issue with Sam’s soul,” Cas said, addressing me and ignoring Sam. “I’ll let you know when I find something.”

“Thanks Cas,” I said over my shoulder even thought I was sure he was gone by now.

“Dean?” Sam asked softly after I put Bobby John back down. “You okay?”

“Not really,” I said, covering my face with my hands and looking at Sam over the top of them. “What are we going to do?”

“Same thing we’ve been doin’?” Sam said with a shrug. “We’ve been doing pretty well without it this far. We let Cas do his looking, and if he finds something, great, if not, we’ll figure it out as we go.”

I nodded, taking my hands from my face. “I’m gonna catch some sleep, you good staying up with him?”

“Yeah, yeah, go sleep, you need it,” Sam said, eyes already far off, “I’ll be fine.”

“Hey,” I called, catching Sam’s attention before I left the room. “I love you, soulless or not.”

Sam gave a soft smile. “I love you too Dean.”

* * *

“What did you do?” I yelled, dashing to catch Sam before he hit the ground.

“I returned his soul to his body,” Cas said, standing back. “He should be fine when he wakes.”

“And when will that be?”

I looked up when there was no response to see that Cas had disappeared. “Fuck you Cas!” I yelled to the ceiling. “Fuck you!”

* * *

“Da?” Bobby John asked, blinking sleepily up at me.

“Daddy’s sleeping,” I said, bouncing the little boy gently. “Is Papa okay?”

Bobby John made an unhappy noise but snuggled into my chest. “Wan’ Da,” he sniffled.

“So do I baby boy,” I whispered, bouncing him carefully.

* * *

Sam shot up in bed, gasping for breath. “Dean!”

“I’m here,” I said, by his side in an instant but holding back. “I’m here.”

“Dean,” Sam gasped, holding onto me. “Dean.”

We just sat like that for a while, and I was glad we were at Bobby’s so that he could watch Bobby John and we could actually have this moment.

“What do you remember?” I asked after a moment, pulling back a bit. “Sammy, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“I took Michael and Lucifer into the Pit,” Sam said.

“You don’t remember anything of the last year?” I asked as Sam sat up properly and looked around the room we were in.

“No,” Sam admitted. “We at Bobby’s?”

“Yeah, figured it was the safest place while you were out.”

“How long have I been out?” Sam asked, stretching.

“’Bout a week. Cas and Lisa have been checking in every day,” I said. “Bobby John’s been asking for you.”

“Bobby John?” Sam asked, looking up.

“I was hoping you’d remember him at least,” I muttered. “Come on, I’ll introduce you, again.”

Sam followed me up and out of the safe room he had been in and to the living room where Bobby was playing with Bobby John.

“Da!” Bobby John called out, reaching for Sam.

Sam gave him an odd look, he was still wearing the little African American boy from the diaper box, and went to pick him up.

“Bobby John?” he asked, giving me an amused look.

“Yep,” I said, making faces at Bobby John before moving to talk to Bobby.

“Pa!” Bobby John whined, reaching for me. 

“One minute baby,” I said, capturing his hand and kissing his little fingers. “I gotta talk to Grandpa for a minute.”

Sam’s eyebrows kept rising as he looked between me and Bobby John.

“He doesn’t remember anything from the last year,” I said softly so Sam couldn’t hear. “Bobby John, anything.”

“What are you boys going to do now?” Bobby asked as we watched Sam and Bobby John.

“Head back home, try to get back in the swing of things.”

“Well you boys be careful,” Bobby said. “Don’t need any of y’all getting anymore hurt.”

“Course Bobby,” I agreed easily. “It’s not like we enjoy getting hurt.”

“I’m never sure with you boys,” Bobby muttered under his breath.

* * *

“Dean, what happened?” Sam asked, putting Bobby John down for the night. “Between us.”

“What do you think happened?” I shot back. “We got a baby and completed the cliché.”

“Oh,” Sam said quietly. “Huh.”

“That’s all you have to say? Huh?” I went to my (our) room, we had gotten home about an hour earlier, and slammed the door shut.

“Dean?” Sam called quietly, knocking lightly on the door a while later. “Can I come in?”

“Why not?” I asked rhetorically, rolling over to face the door. “What do you want?”

“My ‘huh’ earlier,” Sam started. “It wasn’t bad or anything.”

“Sure as hell sounded like it was,” I mumbled, moving so that Sam wouldn’t squish me when he sat his Sasquatch ass down. “If it wasn’t bad, what the hell was it?”

“I was surprised that you’d ever be interested in me like that,” Sam admitted. “Because honestly, I never even saw you look at a guy. Always going after the pretty girls. I guess I figured that, if you went for a guy, you’d go for a pretty guy.”

“It’s deeper than that Sammy,” I said softly, sitting up on the bed. “You’re my…Sammy. Remember what Ash told us? ‘Only soul mates share Heavens,’ and we do.”

“Soul mates,” Sam rolled the word around on his tongue for a moment. “That means I get to do this.”

Sam caught me by surprise, kissing me deep and passionate and full on the mouth. “I love you Dean,” Sammy whispered against my kiss swollen lips. “Always, and apparently, even when I don’t have a soul. I love you.” Sam’s words kept tumbling out in a stream that I had to stop with a kiss.

“I love you too bitch,” I said with a soft laugh.

“Jerk,” Sam whispered back, guiding us both to lay down. “We were having a moment Dean.”

“Chick flick moments are for sissies,” I disagreed. “Now kiss me before our kid wakes up again.”

Sam happily complied.

* * *

“I really hope this doesn’t become a regular thing,” Sam groaned, cleaning the blood and other nasty things that came from a skin change.

“You and me both Sammy,” I said, cleaning the baby up. “Um, I don’t think we have a Bobby John anymore.”

Sam turned to give me a look, and the baby on the changing table.

“More like Bobbi Joan,” I said, grabbing a diaper and a clean white onesie.

“Oh,” Sam looked down at the bloody mess in his hands. “What do we do now?”

“Same thing we’ve been doing Sammy,” I said. “Take it one day at a time.”

* * *

“Poppa?” Bobbi asked one night as I was putting her to bed. “How come I don’t look like you and Daddy?” (At the moment she was a little Irish girl with extremely pale skin and bright curly red hair.)

I should have been expecting this, but the question caught me by surprise. “Well,” I said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You’re special Bobbi.”

“Like how I can change what I look like?” Bobbi asked, “Does that mean I’m a superhero Poppa?”

I laughed and kissed her forehead. “You have to grow up before you can be a superhero Bobbi. And to grow up big and strong you need to go to sleep.”

“And eat your veggies,” Sam said from the door.

“But Daddy,” the five-year old groaned. “Veggies are yucky.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Sam said, “You have to do it if you’re gonna be a superhero. For the greater good. But for now,” Sam reached over and turned off the bedside lamp. “Go to sleep Princess.”

“Yes Daddy,” Bobbi said, burrowing into her blankets. “Love you Daddy, love you Poppa.”

“Love you too Princess,” Sam and I said in unison as we left Bobbi’s room to go to our own.

* * *

“I think we did good Sammy,” I said, watching as Bobby finished packing everything into his car and, turning back to wave at us one more time, he got in the car himself and headed off to college.

“We did,” Sam agreed, “Don’t worry Dean, he can take care of himself.”

“I know he can,” I said, biting my lip. “But what if he decided he needs to be Bobbi Joan? He can’t just do that at college.”

“And he knows that,” Sam said, “And if he needs to, he can spout bullshit as well as the next guy.”

I sighed and let Sam lead me away from the window where I had been staring after Bobby’s car. “He’ll be fine,” I muttered, trying to convince myself still.

* * *

“Hey Pop?” Bobbi asked, drawing my attention from the nowhere it had been. “If I had a kid, would it be a shifter too?”

“I think that’s a Dad question,” I responded. “Why, you and Carter thinking of starting a family?”

“Something like that,” Bobbi answered, going back to her book.

* * *

“I think the way we got Bobbi was much better,” Sam muttered, watching as I paced back and forth in the waiting room. “No tension, no worry, just here’s your baby.”

“The first few months were hell though,” I said, collapsing back into the chair next to Sam. “We didn’t even have a house, let alone anything we needed to take care of a six month old infant.”

“We managed alright,” Sam soothed, rubbing circles on my back. “Bobbi’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”

“I know,” I said, sitting back in my chair. “Grandparents. Can you believe it Sammy? I never thought we’d live long enough to have kids, let alone grandkids.”

“Well we’re here now,” Sammy replied as the doors leading deeper into the maternity ward opened and a beaming Carter came through. “And let’s go meet our first grandchild.” Sam stood and went to meet Carter.

I followed, and stood in the doorway for a moment when we reached the room Bobbi was in. I stood in the door for a moment, watching. Bobbi looked up at me and smiled, and I came the rest of the way into the room, joining my family.


	2. Just Add Claire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cas takes Claire to the Winchesters, hoping they’ll take care of her like he can’t. Claire meets Bobbi John.

“Why exactly do you think we’ll be able to help you with a teenager?” I asked, running my hands down my face. “We’re having enough trouble with Bobbi as it is.”

“You are the only people I know who have a child,” Cas said, looking to where Claire was playing with Bobbi. “So I thought you might be able to help me.”

I glanced at the girls too and grinned slightly. “It would be nice for Bobbi to have some friends other than just me and Sam. With her going back and forth between Bobbi Joan and Bobby John so often it’s a bit hard to make friends.”

“So will you help me?” Cas asked as Bobbi yawned.

“I’ll have to ask Sam,” I cautioned, moving to pick Bobbi up. “But I’m sure he’ll be fine with it.”

“Thank you Dean,” Cas said with a sigh.

“Course,” I said. “There’s some guest rooms upstairs, you guys take your picks for the night and we’ll figure everything out in the morning.”

"Can I help you put her to bed?" Claire asked in a quiet voice.

Cas gave her a surprised look, it was the first she'd voluntarily spoken since he picked her up at the group home.

"A couple of the foster homes had little ones," Claire said, crossing her arms defensively across her chest. "Those were the ones I lasted longest in. So can I help?"

"Sure," I said, "Come on, I'll show you where her room is."

Claire lit up like a little kid on Christmas morning. She held out her arms, and Bobbi went to her willingly.

I watched for a moment, then led them up the stairs.

Maybe Claire would do well here.

* * *

"Castiel said you guys were out," Claire said as Cas left the next morning. "Because of Bobbi."

"We are," I said, successfully wrangling Bobbi into her high chair. "What's your point?"

"Where's Sam?" Claire asked, poking at the toaster. "Because he's obviously not here."

"He had to go to some convention for his books, he should be back today or tomorrow," I said, putting dry Cheerios on the tray of Bobbi's high chair. "Eggs good for you?"

"Yeah. What kind of stuff does he write?" Claire asked, handing me a spatula.

"He got a letter from Chuck a few weeks after we moved in here, told him to finish up the Supernatural book series for him. So that's what we've been doing. He's working the convention circuit right now. Chuck wasn't kidding when he said cult following. Some of these guys know our lives better than we do."

"Must be weird," Claire said, "Having so many people watching your every move."

"You have no idea sweetheart," I said. "This one chick, Becky, she tricked us into going to this one convention. These guys who were cosplaying us turned out to be a couple. They had us pegged before Sam or I even considered it."

"Huh," Claire said. "Weird."

"Don't I know it, now sit and eat. We're going to try and get custody, so you can hopefully stay here if Cas doesn't get out."

"Will he?" Claire asked softly, poking at the food on his plate.

"I'm not sure," I said. "A few days ago I would have said he wouldn't give up for anything, but a few days ago I also would have said he wouldn't go looking for you, maybe he's changing."

Claire made a small noise, but shoveled food into her mouth so I couldn't question her any further.

* * *

"I'm home!" Sam called out, his voice eliciting a squeal of joy from Bobbi as she clapped her hands excitedly.

"Da, Da, Da," she chanted, reaching out for him as soon as he was in the room, shocking Claire, who had become her new favorite person, put apparently still ranking after Sam.

"Hey," Sam said, kissing my cheek. "We only had one kid when I left."

"Right, Sam you remember Claire?" I asked with a gesture towards her.

"Cas' daughter?" Sam asked, readjusting Bobbi so he could shake Claire's hand.

"You could put it that way," Claire said, shrinking in on herself once she let go of Sam's hand. "He's working on getting custody since I'm technically still a minor."

"Right," Sam nodded to himself. "16?"

"Yeah," Claire said.

"You go get cleaned up," I said, pushing Sam towards the bathroom. "I'm gonna start dinner, and you can tell us all about your fabulous convention."

"Yes dear," Sam said with a smirk as he headed off.

"Bitch!" I called after him.

"Jerk!" he called right back.

Claire looked between Sam's retreating form and me, lost.

"You'll get used to it," I said with a shrug. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Claire said slowly. "I think I will be."

* * *

"What's wrong with Bobbi?" Claire asked sleepily, rubbing her eyes in the door of Bobby's room while Sam and I cleaned him up.

"It was a shift," Sam said where he was cleaning up the mess. "I was surprised when I came home and she was still in the same skin."

Claire looked confused as she looked between me and Sam.

"Bobbi wasn't born female," I said, putting some pajamas on Bobby. "He was born male, and his first few shifts were to other male forms," I picked him up. "Guess he decided it was time to go back to Bobby John.

Claire gave me an odd look, but took Bobby when he reached for her. She was shocked when she realized sweet little Bobbi Joan was gone, leaving rough and tumble Bobby John in her place. She held the little boy at arm's length and put him back in the crib as soon as she could, dashing back to her room.

"That wasn't a good sign," I said to Sam.

"Nope," he agreed. "Not at all."

* * *

"Cla!" Bobby John whined, reaching for the teenage girl who was steadfastly ignoring him. "Cla!" he called again as she left the room. "Cla!" He sounded heart broken. "Cla!"

Sam gave me a look. "Do you want to talk to her, or should I?"

"I will," I handed Bobby to him. "He needs his favorite right now."

Sam nodded and tried to comfort Bobby, who was crying like he was dying.

"Claire?" I called, knocking on her door. "You feeling okay?" 

"I'm fine Dean," Claire said unconvincingly, she sounded as if she had been crying too. "Go deal with Bobby."

"Sam's got him," I said. "You need anything?"

"You to go away," Claire muttered.

I gave the door a startled look, Claire was distant, but she hadn't been outright rude.

Claire started blasting music as I walked back to Sam and Bobby.

* * *

"Ugh," I groaned, protesting the sudden introduction of Sam's elbow to my ribs. "Wha'?"

"It’s 9 o'clock," Sam said, getting out of bed. "And Bobby's not up."

I woke quickly. "Nine?"

He nodded, already at the door. I got up quickly and followed him into the hall.

"He's not in his room," Sam said when I reached the door of Bobby's room. "Dean, he's not here."

I started panicking. "Claire," I muttered, dashing towards her room.

I threw the door open and had to cover my mouth to keep from letting out a very unmanly awww.

"Dean?" Sam asked, coming up behind me. "What is it?"

I nodded to the bed and grabbed Claire's camera from the table by the door to take a couple of snapshots. Claire was laying on her side, one arm over her head and the other wrapped around Bobby John, who had one fist near his mouth and the other wrapped in Claire's shirt in a hold so tight it couldn't be comfortable for either of them.

I took the camera with me to save the pictures on my computer before Claire could see and delete them, and left the two to sleep. They both needed it since neither of them had gotten much in the past week Claire had been trying to ignore Bobby.

* * *

"Afternoon sleepyheads," I greeted, grinning broadly when Claire stumbled sleepily into the kitchen around noon with Bobby on her hip. "Sleep well?"

"Mhhm," Claire mumbled, setting Bobby John in his high chair and hunting down some food. "Wha' time is it?"

"Noon, you two really slept the day away. We figured you deserved it, with how little sleep you both got in the last week."

Claire smiled sheepishly. "He woke me up around midnight with that little cry you guys never seem to hear. And I just couldn't take it anymore. My heart already hurt from this week and I couldn't just let him cry, knowing you wouldn't hear him. So I brought him to my room."

"Well I'm glad you got over your issues, but next time I'd appreciate it if you did it in a way that was less heart attack inducing."

Claire winced and set Bobby's food (cut up hot dogs, his favorite) on his tray. "Sorry."

"It's alright," I said. "Like I said, I'm glad you got over your issues."

Claire smiled, bright and honest. "Thanks," she said after a moment. "For not kicking me out. You didn't have to take me in just because Cas asked you to."

"We weren't going to leave a kid to fend for themself on the street."

"Still," Claire insisted. "Thanks."

"Course kid," I said, wrapping an arm around her for a quick hug.

Claire gave me a startled smile before hugging back and returning her attention to Bobby and her own food.

* * *

"Bobbi?" Claire knocked lightly on her sister's bedroom door. "You okay? Dad called and said you guys got some bad news."

Bobbi threw the bedroom door open and flung herself into her sister's arms. "Grandpa Bobby died last night," the six year old sobbed into Claire's stomach. "Daddy said it was a heart attack."

Claire instantly dropped down to Bobbi's level, wrapping the younger in a hug. "I'm sorry Bobbi," she whispered into the girl's hair (currently a medium brown shade). "I know how much he meant to you."

"Cla?" Bobbi asked, looking up at the older girl. "How come it hurts so much?"

"Because you aren't a Vulcan," Claire said picking up her sister, (she was small for her age at the moment, Claire wondered if she should be worried) and carried the younger girl into her room.

"Spock still hurt," Bobbi muttered, "I saw the movies."

"That was his human half," Claire countered, "He's not that good at hiding it."

Bobbi nodded and curled closer to Claire. "Does it always hurt like this?" she asked after a moment of quiet.

"It gets better after a while," Claire said, kissing the girl on the top of her head. "But it never goes away."

"And I won't forget him," Bobbi said fiercely, "Never."

"Of course not," Claire assured. "He'll always be important to you Bobbi, you were named after him and everything."

"He hasn't even been gone a whole day," Bobbi whispered, "And I wouldn't have seen him anyways, but I miss him Cla."

"I know sweetheart," Claire said, "I know."

* * *

"That's a worried face," Claire said, sitting next to Bobby. "What's up?"

Bobby didn't answer, playing with his straw. "There's this guy," he whispered eventually. "And I really like him."

"But you don't know how to explain the shifter thing to him," Claire said.

Bobby nodded, "We've been dating for a while, with me as Bobby John, and I really like him Claire, but I'm starting to feel the urge to go back to Joan."

Claire opened her mouth to respond, but Bobby squeaked and hid behind Claire.

"Going after an older woman Bobby?" a male voice said, "Didn't know you were into that."

Claire nudged Bobby with her elbow and he sat up. "Carter," he said with a smile that told Claire that this was in fact Bobby's boyfriend. "This is my sister, Claire."

"It's nice to meet you Claire," Carter said with a smile. "Do I want to know what you two were whispering about over here?"

Claire looked between both boys and gestured for Carter to sit down. "You know Bobby's gender fluid, right Carter?"

He nodded and Claire continued.

"Well Bobby was just worried that you wouldn't like him any more if he was Bobbi Joan rather than Bobby John." Claire held up a hand to keep Carter from interrupting her. "Because Bobby has a condition, where he can change what he looks like, even his gender. He was born male, but when I met him he was Bobbi Joan and I freaked out when he changed back to John. He was two and it broke his heart. We don't need that again. So what do you say Carter?"

Carter looked at Bobby for a minute. "Bobby," He said softly, reaching across and grabbing the other’s hand. "I love you, not your body. What makes you think I'd leave you?"

Bobby shrugged. "I worry," he said softly.

Claire left the table and Carter moved to sit next to Bobby. She smiled and sent a text to Dad. _Mission accomplished._

**Author's Note:**

> Not beta read, all mistakes are my own


End file.
